Looking for the chickpea cookies from Pinterest or Facebook? Here’s the original recipe!

Chickpea cookies! Chickpea cookies with no flour, no oil, no white sugar. These are just full of chickpeas. And they’re my very favorite healthy cookie so far! I don’t know if they really classify as cookies so I’ll go with cookie dough bites.

And as a bonus, they’re grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan. Just in case that matters to anyone out there! And if you’re worried about the chickpeas, don’t be. I don’t like chickpeas and won’t eat them but that didn’t prevent me from inhaling these.

These need the chocolate. Don’t go making them without the chocolate and then tell me that they weren’t sweet or gooey enough! These would be incredibly boring without the chocolate. And for some weird reason, these cookie dough bites do not taste yummy in dough form. Baking them somehow brings out the sweetness and peanut butter flavor. Or maybe it’s just all that melted chocolate.

One thing I’ve learned since starting this blog is that people really love closeups of melted stuff. So there you go. :)

These aren’t the most beautiful cookie dough bites, but fresh out of the oven, with all that gooey chocolate, I bet you can’t tell that these are made with chickpeas. Or are grain-free. But cold? Yuck. These need to be warm! You can either freeze the balls and pop a few in the oven whenever it’s on, or simply put them in the microwave until they’re warm and gooey again.

Please read the following before asking a question! It will probably answer it. :)

Tons of people have posted the nutritional analysis for these. They’re supposedly anywhere between 80-130 calories, which seems like a huge range to me. Please use a recipe analyzer like on CalorieCount if you need more information.

You can use almond butter, sun butter, or whatever nut butter you like.

The peanut butter should be the kind with only peanuts and salt. No added fat or sugar. Be careful because there are some “natural” brands out there which aren’t really natural. I find that this peanut butter is usually expensive so I make my own. You can make your own in only 5 minutes with a food processor. Check that out here.

Chickpea flour won’t work. I don’t think plain hummus will either.

I haven’t tried anything other than chickpeas but others have used butter beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, great northern beans, and lentils with success. I generally don’t like goodies made with those types of beans but I love these cookies made with chickpeas. Please use chickpeas unless you have an allergy!

Doing this in a blender (unless it’s a Blendtec blender or something equally powerful) won’t work and might kill the blender.

Adding random stuff like eggs… probably won’t work either. ;) Experimenting is great but I think this is a bad recipe to experiment with. But thanks to the experimenters who left feedback, I’ve been able to update the recipe with alternatives to honey and peanut butter. Thanks everyone!

For a totally sugar free version, use 30 drops of Stevia and cacao nibs.

Do not double the recipe! It might be too much for your machine and could damage it.

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F / 175°C. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined.

Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky.

With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a Silpat or a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising.

Bake for about 10 minutes. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.

Notes

My can of chickpeas was 400 grams, 240 grams without the water, and I used all but a few tablespoons.

Don't even try with regular peanut butter! They'll come out oily. You MUST use natural peanut butter. :)

If you need grain-free baking powder, you can use 1 part cream of tartar + 1 part baking soda + 2 parts arrowroot.

Hi Erin,
I have not read through the 1800 comments so please excuse me if this has been asked before. Have you tried any other sweetener besides the liquid ones listed (honey, agave, stevia, maple syrup)…Ex: coconut sugar? just wondering if the sweetener had to be liquid for some specific reason. Thanks and truly love all of your recipes!

Hi, I’ve made this recipe a couple of times now, love it, no problems.
The last time I made it, I used a homemade SunButter (just sunflower seeds, maple syrup, and a little salt and oil) and accidentally used bicarbonate soda instead of baking powder.
Here’s the weird thing… the dough turned a a deep dark green colour when left exposed to the air. It still tasted the same, and I could scrape off the green to find the normal coloured dough underneath, but green???
Cooked and ate them with no ill effects, but they were, as my husband says, “house biscuits”, ie, not ones to serve to others 😉
Wondering if anyone has some culinary science knowledge to explain what happened?

These cookies are AMAZING!!! My friend made them for me and they weren’t just ‘good, if you’re allergic to…’. They are just outright GOOD, even for those of us that don’t need to substitute ingredients due to allergies.

Thank you for sharing your incredible wealth of knowledge. This would be truly tedious to compile on our own.

I don’t think I understand your question. What do you mean by blending or not blending the chickpeas? If you can’t buy canned chickpeas and you instead buy dried beans, then you need to cook them according to the package instructions and then use them like it says in the recipe directions. :)

Have anyone else used stevia (powder or liquid form) without any other changes to the recipe, and have it turn out okay? I will make these this weekend. I have a feeling the dough might be a little dry, and I might have to add a bit of almond milk. I do not see a picture of the dough before it is baked, so I might have to use my better judgement. Thanks.

Hello! There’s a stevia option listed at the bottom of the post (4th bullet point from the bottom). I haven’t tried them that way but some other commenters have and liked them! I’m not sure about how much liquid to add. The dough should be quite firm and sticky.

Update. I saw the option for stevia but I did not see a comment that mentioned the actual result. I used 30 drops of stevia and added 3 T of almond milk since I did not use honey. I kept everything else the same. They came out amazing. I am not sure if adding the milk was necessary, but I will make these again soon. I will look at your other recipes.

These are amazing! I subbed stevia powder, PB2 and omitted the chocolate chips bringing these to about 40 calories each (15 cookies … after eating a few teaspoons of dough … )! Wonderful texture and amazing flavor. And now, I’m trying a recipe for aquafaba meringues with the leftover chickpea water (it also makes great whipped “cream”)! Thanks!

I added two scoops with the scoop the brewer’s yeast came with. I had to add a little water because it dried it up a bit, and they came out AMAZING! Might try chia seed or a little ground flaxseed next time! :)

Neat! Thanks for the reply and the tip. I’ll make note of it for down the line. ;)

Christinesays

September 13, 2016 @ 3:07 am

These are AWESOME!! Best grain free cookies I’ve made so far (and I have tried a ton)! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe! Any chance that you’ve come up with a chocolate chocolate chip version?? Or any chance you might have any ideas? :)

I’m so happy you liked them! And I do have a grain-free (and paleo!) chocolate chip cookie recipe. And I think they’re waaay better than these chickpea cookies, to be honest. ;) Here you go: perfect paleo chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy! And thanks for your comment. :)

These are so wonderful. thank you thank you! I think I love you. Just for you to know, I accidentally grabbed cannellini beans out of the pantry instead of the chickpeas and opened the can before I realized I had the wrong beans I will try the chickpeas next time but they are so great with the cannellini beans. I also eliminated the chocolate chips to save on calories and sugar, and used agave because that’s what I had on hand… These are soooo soooo good!!!

Haha. Thanks! I’m thrilled you liked them so much! It’s great to know that cannellini beans worked well. And no chocolate chips?! You are strong. I could never do that. ;) Thanks a ton for your feedback!

Hi Erin! I really do love your recipe and have made it several times in 3 days. Again just as an FYI, I also tried the recipe with defatted PB powder and just made peanut butter according to the directions. It works; so if anyone is looking to cut out additional calories/fat this would be another alternative. Although your recipe is quite perfect just the way it is so I am not trying to change it.

Thank you! I didn’t know that there are different kinds of peanut butter because here in Germany we only have natural peanut butter, thus the good one ;)
I replaced the honey with Sweety fiber – absolutely delicious!
It’s such a great idea to use chickpeas as the basic ingredient of a cookie!

Hey there! I live in Germany, too, and most stores here sell the “regular” kind and not the natural kind (unless we’re talking about bio shops!) I’m happy you enjoyed the cookies and thanks so much for the honey replacement tip. :)

Shaynasays

August 25, 2016 @ 7:29 pm

I tried microwaving them – 30 seconds – it works! Chocolate chips get all melty and a bit of the vanilla extract taste evaporates! Mmmm… the perfect quick treat:)
Thank you!

They are absolutely angelic! Hubby was very sceptical because they were vegan friendly and we are definetly not vegans or vegetarians or any of that, but after tasting one he had to be reminded to leave some dough bites for others. We liked them at room temperature better btw. And i thought raw dough tasted very nice. Wonder if using cashew butter instead of peanut made all that difference. Anyway, they were out of this world! Keeper:)

Better at room temperature?! Haha. It must have been the cashew butter. ;) Or maybe I’m just the odd one since most of the commenters like them at room temp! I’m happy to hear that your skeptical husband approved. :) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!

I made these tonight and they are so delicious. Melt in your mouth, soft, warm…. everything I wanted and more. It’s such a perfect treat. Quick and simple. And I am sooooo happy I didn’t have to wait for them to set and cool. I’m trying your chocolate peanut butter cookie sandwiches next!

Haha. Waiting for cookies to set is silly and totally unrealistic. I never do that in real life (though I write it in my recipes ;)) I’m so happy you liked the cookies! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)

Haha. Good that you got a little workout in first! :) I’m happy it worked for you. Thanks for your feedback!

Bee

♥♥♥♥♥

says

July 16, 2016 @ 6:56 am

Add the 165 g of peanut butter. I thought it seemed like way too much and added about 100, but the cookies ended up not holding together. I also added 4 teaspons of whole wheat flour to absorb the wetness of my chickpeas (I probably should’ve dried them a bit better). That said the taste was seriously amazing; the flavor is so delicious and similar to a regular chocolate chip cookie. I’ll definitely be making my chocolate chip cookies grain free from now on!

Erin Hate to go against the rules but Jif worked just fine.I also threw in some coarsely chopped honey roasted peanuts to ramp up the texture. These are OK but would be best for someone with a very restricted diet.

Hi there! The reason why I say not to use Jif and the like is because people who have made it with both types (Jif and natural peanut butter with just nuts and salt in it) have told me that the natural peanut butter version is much, much better. So while these cookies may be okay with Jif, I think you would have maybe liked them a little more with natural peanut butter. :)

Thank you for YOUR recipe Erin, my Grandson will be pleased. Finally a cookie bite snack created for those who cannot enjoy what most of us can. I am wondering if you have an opinion on using the dry beans if they were soaked pryor? I am thinking of making a huge mess of them for Holiday snacking, and impressive sharing, the dry bags would be more economical in larger portion? In the meantime, I shall practice your original version while I await your response. Thank you kindly.

Hi Nicole! I’m happy you enjoy the cookies and I hope your grandson will, too. :) If you use dry beans, you have to soak them and cook them according to the package directions. I don’t think just soaking them will be enough. Thanks for your comment!

Okay…I just HAD to tell you that my young siblings (and I!) LOVE these cookies…and we love them cold as well! :) Actually, most of us have only tasted these cold and think they are amazing. Just so y’all know! :)

Have you experimented with savoury flavours using chickpeas as a base? I friend of mine suggested it would be awesome, considering there are so many recipes using chickpea flour, especially Indian food. I just don’t know where I would start! Hmm maybe I should google.. 😏

Hi Megan! I’m sorry but I’m absolutely no help here. I have to admit that I don’t like chickpeas (I do like these cookies, though ;)) or chickpea flour so I never use them. I wish you luck in your googling! :) Sorry again I couldn’t be more helpful.

Hey there, thanks for this recipe. Just made these and it came out great. The only difference is I used regular peanut butter and cooked it for 12 minutes instead of 10. They hold together and taste amazing. Just gave up dairy and eggs and am struggling with desserts- I really appreciate this recipe. Thanks again.

I’m happy they came out well with regular peanut butter! And I’m so happy you found the recipe. It’s definitely not the easiest when you have to give up dairy and eggs! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. :)

just finished making these and WOW they are SO NICE! I was very unsure about baking things with no sugar, let alone with chickpeas! But they are gorgeous!
I home made the peanut butter by blending peanuts, but my machine couldnt quite handle it so i ended up with a thick peanut flour. however it doesnt seem to of made a difference.
I will be sharing this with all my friends and family, thank you!!

Yay! So happy that it worked out well. :) But that’s strange about the homemade peanut butter. What kind of food processor did you use? And what amounts of peanut did you use? Sometimes it’s difficult to make nut butter unless you use a larger amount of nuts. Thanks so much for your comment!

I have made these several times exactly as stated and they were a HUGE hit. One time I switched it up and added a cup of roasted peanuts in the food processor for several minutes and then added the rest of the ingredients. It yields about 2/3 cup peanut butter the recipe calls for. I got this idea from your site!

I just mixed up a batch of dough and used 30 liquid Stevia instead of honey. I am concerned about the texture. Not sure if it is too dry… Anyone try this?

I’m so happy that you’ve been enjoying them! I haven’t tried the Stevia version myself but other comments have and it seemed to work. But maybe they didn’t try the original version, so they don’t know how the cookies were intended to be. Did it work out? Thanks so much for your feedback! :)

Yummy!!!
I tried these with homemade cashew butter (so the nut butter flavor wasn’t so over powering) and half 100% cacao chocolate (made into chips), half 60% cacao bittersweet choc chips to make them a bit healthier.
I find that smaller cookies and pressing them into the cookie shape worked better for me.
I also baked them for a few minutes longer than recommended.

Someone made these cookied for a party I attended. I liked them so much, I asked for the recipe and was pointed here. Then I made them for my parents and later for a party and they were a big hit both times! I used the vegan versions, once with agave and once with maple syrup, and they turned out great. Thanks for sharing this!

Note: I found it helpful/quick to use a cookie scoop. Also, my taste preference is to use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe so that I’m sure the chocolate flavor won’t overpower the peanut butter taste. Just a preference thing.

I’m happy that they were such a hit and that the vegan versions came out well for you! Thanks for the tip with the cookie scoop. :) And 1/2 the chocolate chips?! Haha. I wish I could do that. I may (not so secretly) use more than the amount listed in the recipe. ;) Thanks a bunch for your comment!

thanks so much for this recipe. i loved it. i actually liked that it didn’t taste like a typical chocolate chip cookie. I substituted peanut butter with almond butter, honey with the syrup from my left over gulab jamun and i added twice the amount of chocolate chips. i also baked it for 16 minutes. even with all those changes my cookies actually looked like yours and tasted great. i will make sure to check out your other recipes.

Haha. I love your style with adding twice the amount of chocolate chips! :D And I’m so happy that you enjoyed them and they came out well with your changes. Thanks a bunch for your comment (and sorry for my slow reply!).

I made these tonight and they were wonderful! I did make a few changes:
I used PB2 powdered peanut butter (about 1/3 cup), then added a tbs or so of cashew milk, some Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder, a bunch of Truvia packets, sugar-free maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, pinch of corn starch and mixed with the chickpeas in a food processor. Then I added some chopped pecans and chocolate chips. I baked @ 350 for about 10 minutes. Deeeelicious!!!

I love how you basically created your own recipe! That’s awesome. :) I’m thrilled that they still came out with all your changes! Thanks for your comment and for sharing your subs. I’m sure it’ll be a big help to others who want to use PB2 and make them sugar-free. :)

1. I don’t have a food possessor, so I used a wooden potato masher to mash the chickpeas and only after that I’ve added all the other ingredients and mixed them with a spoon.

2. I’ve noticed too late that it’s supposed to be natural peanut butter, so I had to use a commercial one I had at home.

3. I don’t have a Silpat, and I forgot to buy parchment paper, so I just had to put them on the baking pan. But I figured that because of the commercial peanut butter they’ll probably be oily enough to not stick to the pan – and I was right :)

Of course, not surprisingly, it didn’t look like on the picture, but it still tested great! Everyone at home liked it and were surprised it was made from chickpeas.

Hi Tesh! That’s awesome that they came out well with your little changes – and you totally did not do everything wrong ;) It’s good to know that a potato masher works! People in this post are getting more and more creative with their chickpea mashing tools. :D Thanks a bunch for your nice comment and for sharing your tips!

Hello! I haven’t tried it but I think it’d work. Lots of commenters have used different types of nut butter and they all seem to work (though I haven’t tried them myself). Dried blueberries would work fine as long as your husband likes the cashew + blueberry combination. I’m not so sure what would go well with cashews. Does he like white chocolate? Because I think that’d be great!

Hi,
Actually, he does love white chocolate.. Perhaps for a treat.. We are trying to reduce sugar and go as healthy as we can.
You got me to thinking… Perhaps, dried apple or peaches might go better than blueberries :)
Thank you !!!!

Hey! These look awesome! I am allergic to nuts (it’s the hardest thing about being vegan!) so many recipes ask for nuts. Was wondering if you think Wowbutter would work? It’s actually very oily thought so probably not I’m guessing? I don’t believe there is a “natural” nut-free “nut butter” lol

Hello! I’ve never used Wowbutter and so have no idea how it’d work. Is it thin and runny like natural peanut butter (the kind with just nuts and salt?) What about SunButter? Some commenters have said that that works fine!

I always use sunflower seed butter in this recipe and it works great! Also, I just tried tahini (from toasted sesame) for the first time – it’s actually really good. The dough was thinner, so the cookies flattened a bit and were soft, but still delicious. Thanks so much for this recipe – I’ve been enjoying it for a good 3 years. :)